Overheard in the gym - Share!

[andygates]

Nerd excercise for next time: the bar is 2m long and weighs 20kg. A 45 plate is 20kg. Calculate the plate difference needed to flip the bar.

[HenryFnord]

Nerd excercise for next time: the bar is 2m long and weighs 20kg. A 45 plate is 20kg. Calculate the plate difference needed to flip the bar.

Offhand I would guess the difference is a lot lower with an empty bar at the light end then if you put a single 45 plate on due to lever effects (assuming it's on a bench or rack.)

[Corbab]

Offhand I would guess the difference is a lot lower with an empty bar at the light end then if you put a single 45 plate on due to lever effects (assuming it's on a bench or rack.)

I'm guessing the bar rests about 1/4 of the way off the rack, so the lever is at .5m, with a force of ~500N, so the unweighted end measures 1.5m and weights 15kg, so ~150N. 500N * .5m = 200 N*m, 150N * 1.5m = 225 N*m. Playing a dangerous game already...

[TheChris]

My favorite is not really a quote. Well the other night I was in my apartment complex's gym doing intervals and watching Downton Abby (WHAT?!) and a guy comes in to run on the treadmill. Not long after he begins to....grunt....

sensually...

really getting into it.

I mean, I've really begun to enjoy working out, but not like that.

[wildross]

I'm guessing the bar rests about 1/4 of the way off the rack, so the lever is at .5m, with a force of ~500N, so the unweighted end measures 1.5m and weights 15kg, so ~150N. 500N * .5m = 200 N*m, 150N * 1.5m = 225 N*m. Playing a dangerous game already...

I know experientially that you can have 2 45# plates on one end of the bar, with nothing on the other end and it stays on rack just fine. The lever is only the distance between the center of mass of the weight, and the nearest pin (pivot point). More like 6 inches for 2 plates, maybe 9 or so for 4.

[ebm1224]

well i hate to deraile this thread but since ya'll are doing math....

i need some help in not embarassing myself at the gym (and thus becoming a story on this board...see, i AM on topic!). i've only recenlty started doing barbels but i seem to run into trouble with the squat machine. sometimes the little thing that the bar sits on are on the outside of hte rack (i guess someone was doing deadlifts or curls or something). so i have to move the whole bar to the inside. is there a good way to do that? without, y know, like clanking the bar against the side of the squat rack or making me look like a wimp. guys have come over to help me with this before because i obviously look overwhelmed...very nice of them but embarassing nonetheless.

any advice?

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I've done this experiment myself. With just 2 45 lb plates, I can lift the other side with my pinky, I'd guess around 10lb of force. I imagine 3 45's would be a breaking point. I never have more than a 90 lb difference since I performed this experiment.

[wildross]

well i hate to deraile this thread but since ya'll are doing math....

i need some help in not embarassing myself at the gym (and thus becoming a story on this board...see, i AM on topic!). i've only recenlty started doing barbels but i seem to run into trouble with the squat machine. sometimes the little thing that the bar sits on are on the outside of hte rack (i guess someone was doing deadlifts or curls or something). so i have to move the whole bar to the inside. is there a good way to do that? without, y know, like clanking the bar against the side of the squat rack or making me look like a wimp. guys have come over to help me with this before because i obviously look overwhelmed...very nice of them but embarassing nonetheless.

any advice?

Stop being embarrassed about the noise and rejoice in your strength?? It's metal on metal. And it's a bit awkward to move. Had not to make noise and jostle a bit.

[ZenGwen]

Stop being embarrassed about the noise and rejoice in your strength?? It's metal on metal. And it's a bit awkward to move. Had not to make noise and jostle a bit.

Yep! ebm, I'd recommend just getting on with it until you get over your embarrassment. You're not doing anything silly! And eventually you won't care (and you'll be stronger).

Bit like getting used to being a woman in the free weights area in the first place. Just do it.

[Morrigainz]

My new friend at the gym (who, incidentally, I haven't seen in a while) told me that I shouldn't be doing a push and a pull exercise in the same workout. O.o

[Bean]

We have the most interesting guy who comes into the gym - the grunter. Yesterday he was lying head down, ass up, on an incline bench in the smith machine doing a kind of inverted bench. He was grunting with every push and then, when he finished his set, he stood up, shook out his arms and yelled "F#@$ Yeah!!" This is just the latest in a series of more and more unusual exercises I have watched him do.

Wish I could record him ... barbell hidden cam anyone?

[ETFnerd]

there are tons of hidden barbell cams in the tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu4POqS0JHc

[airen123]

well i hate to deraile this thread but since ya'll are doing math....

i need some help in not embarassing myself at the gym (and thus becoming a story on this board...see, i AM on topic!). i've only recenlty started doing barbels but i seem to run into trouble with the squat machine. sometimes the little thing that the bar sits on are on the outside of hte rack (i guess someone was doing deadlifts or curls or something). so i have to move the whole bar to the inside. is there a good way to do that? without, y know, like clanking the bar against the side of the squat rack or making me look like a wimp. guys have come over to help me with this before because i obviously look overwhelmed...very nice of them but embarassing nonetheless.

any advice?

The first time I had to move it myself was awkward for me, but as the more I lift, the more of it's not a problem for me. I usually just slide whatever weights are left (usually always 45s:/) and put them away, lift the bar to rest on the floor while I move the little shelf things to the proper place and sort of deadlift-cleanup the bar to the shelves. Then I add the weights I want. It's a little time consuming, though.

[bigm141414]

there are tons of hidden barbell cams in the tube:

As always ETF you bring just the right videos to the party. Two things to note:

1) Almost all of the bench press fails were because people for some reason don't wrap their thumbs around the bar. Don't do that

2) The kid breaking his fish tank was just funny.

[bgvanbur]

When I was in college, the gym had a guy that sounded like a loud dying whale when doing weights. At first we got annoyed by it (since it was so loud) but over time it just become another noise in the gym.

[WizardTrip]

well i hate to deraile this thread but since ya'll are doing math....

i need some help in not embarassing myself at the gym (and thus becoming a story on this board...see, i AM on topic!). i've only recenlty started doing barbels but i seem to run into trouble with the squat machine. sometimes the little thing that the bar sits on are on the outside of hte rack (i guess someone was doing deadlifts or curls or something). so i have to move the whole bar to the inside. is there a good way to do that? without, y know, like clanking the bar against the side of the squat rack or making me look like a wimp. guys have come over to help me with this before because i obviously look overwhelmed...very nice of them but embarassing nonetheless.

any advice?

Having just started doing barbell stuff at my work's gym last week, I have come across a similar issue in getting a bar for doing deadlifts and rows. The gym is on the smallish size, and there is not a dedicated area for DL or any kind of barbell exercise that begins on the floor. So I have to grab a bar from the never used incline bench and carry it across the gym to put in between some big cable machine thingy (probably not the technical name :-). Of course, I felt weird having to do this, but had no choice. Since then, I've decided, no one cares, and no one is paying too much attention to what I'm doing. So, I move the bar, do my exercise, then put the bar back.

[ETFnerd]

@bigM: I thought you would like the guy deadlifting... got a kick out of that... hahaha...

[bigm141414]

@bigM: I thought you would like the guy deadlifting... got a kick out of that... hahaha...

Ugh, I had to turn away after the first ten seconds. If there was any more appropriate moment to shout at the screen it was watching that guy dead lift.

[ZenGwen]

Man, I should probably wait until I get home from work to watch that, huh.

[The Tin Man]

there are tons of hidden barbell cams in the tube:

Most of those bench press ones are TERRIFYING. Meanwhile the squat fails at least get the guys to go deep enough

[Morrigainz]

Agreed with the terrifying. BUT THAT DEADLIFTING GUY WAS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING EVER!

[SusieBlu]

Those are some scary bench press fails. The last one though made me cringe.

[morethanjustamom]

This might be a dumb question, but in several of the videos the plates just slid off...was that a major fail on someone's part to not put the ends on (I have no idea what they're actually called!), or is that a safety measure...dump the plates and you're left with a bar?

[The Tin Man]

Agreed with the terrifying. BUT THAT DEADLIFTING GUY WAS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING EVER!

I needed an ice pack just from watching him

[Book]

My old gym had 100# plates. At first the rule was they always had to be loaded at the same time. But with a little experimentation, as long as you slid the bar so that the plate was as close to the rack as possible, it would not tip over. Olympic 45# bar, obviously.

As for quotes... I was in a gym that did not have any sort of free squat rack. I was desperate for a workout, so I went over to the smith machine. Worked up to 315# for sets, whereupon I was told firmly (Army gym) that I needed to have a spotter. It's a SMITH MACHINE!!!!

And... a separate day, we were in a different gym, and the cadet leading our exercise (who is a certified physical trainer, and who started us off with burpees while we were stone cold) saw me squatting 315 for sets, and later told me she was petrified the whole time I was going to blow my knees out.